You don't go 4-12 just by having a bad offense, the Jets defense was also anemic in 2007. Their secondary was the bright spot, they ranked ninth in the league in passing yardage yielded with twenty interceptions. This year the Jets had a surprise in camp when fourth round pick, CB Dwight Lowery, stole the corner position away from Justin Miller. Darrelle Revis completes the duo and they look set to make some noise along with safety kerry Rhodes who boasted a team leading five picks. The quality of their first two opponents (Dolphins and DeBradied Patriots) make it hard to gauge exactly how good they might be. Thus far they are giving up a miserly 200 yards per game passing and 75 running.
In the offseason New York added D tackle Kris Jenkins, and linebacker Calvin Pace. Calvin Pace netted 6.5 sacks and 98 tackles in a breakout season as a linebacker after initially being drafted as a defensive end. The Jets also have David Harris who turned in a terrific performance last year, but hasn't seemed to be the same this year. Kris Jenkins had a great game against the Patriots stopping three runs for a loss and picking up a sack from the nose tackle position. The Jets also drafted Vernon Gholston number six in the first round of this years draft; but he has not cracked the starting lineup, some are already nervous if he will pan out as an impact player.
This is a team that has to do well if Mangini is to keep his coaching job. The management went out and spent their money like drunken cosmonauts for a series of free agents, a top ten rookie, and a Pro Bowl geaser QB who probably has just a few more seasons in him at best. Having invested so much; it is up to Mangini to deliver at minimum a trip to the playoffs I would expect. So far the component pieces are not meshing very well.